Silent Massacre
by Pyro1588
Summary: Siege of Avalon fic about nasty things that pop out of the ground and bite you.


Silent Massacre  
  
By Pyro1588  
  
A/N: This is a Siege of Avalon fic that I wrote, mainly because I wanted to write a fic about nasty things that pop up out of the ground and bite you =) Voreworms are the perfect subject!  
  
*****  
  
"Come on, let's move!" said Kevlon, leader of the scouting party. It was just past midnight and they were trying to reach the remains of what was once a village church.  
  
The Ahoul had recently stolen the Chalice of Life. Many believed that this chalice was the only thing protecting Avalon from an Ahoul invasion, and moral had plummeted after it was stolen.  
  
Lookouts had seen the raiding party enter the old church in the village. Kevlon and his party were on their way to infiltrate the church and retrieve the chalice.  
  
"Kevlon, come and look at this." Vokran, one of the younger scouts, was holding an Ahoul breastplate. It was punctured in two different places. The holes were at least an inch wide each.  
  
"What could that be? It's not a sword thrust. That would have just left a slit in it. These looked like they had been made by an inch-wide spear. But the only creature that could throw a spear that size would be a troll. And trolls don't use anything more complex than clubs."  
  
Kevlon put the breastplate down and stood up. "We need to be careful. I have no clue who would have made a weapon like that. Obviously not the Ahoul, because they wouldn't be using it against each other."  
  
Sadlak walked up and inspected the breastplate. "Maybe they were testing a weapon on an armored dummy."  
  
"But why would they be testing it at the church?"  
  
Sadlak shrugged. "I don't know. At any rate, let's press on."  
  
Kevlon walked up to the door of the church and tried to open it. It was locked.  
  
"Look around for another entrance. A window or something."  
  
The party split up and started searching for another way into the building.  
  
*****  
  
Vokran was examining a back door that had collapsed during the destruction of the village when he heard a rustling noise behind him.  
  
'Ahoul!' he thought to himself. He spun around and quietly unsheathed his sword. The noise had come from the graveyard. It was probably an Ahoul scout spying on them. If he could sneak around behind the scout, he could dispatch the scout silently.  
  
Vokran began creeping through the old graveyard, constantly looking around for the source of the sound.  
  
As he was checking behind one of the headstones, he heard another rustling noise. It was within five feet, too. He whirled around, expecting to face the Ahoul scout. Instead, he came face-to-face with Rodath, one of his fellow scouts.  
  
"Rodath, what are you doing here?" he whispered.  
  
"I heard a noise, and I thought there might be an Ahoul scout back here."  
  
"Same here. So now we've found each other. The question is, where did the noise come from?"  
  
Rodath was about to answer when he heard a faint sound. Dirt was being disturbed.  
  
He turned around, eyes searching for the enemy. His gaze was drawn down to the ground five feet away. The dirt was gently churning.  
  
Rodath silently walked up to the disturbance. The dirt was swirling around very slowly. He leaned forward, inspecting it closely.  
  
*****  
  
Kevlon and the rest of the scouts were startled as a scream echoed from the graveyard. Vokran came running at full speed.  
  
Kevlon reached out and grabbed Vokran, trying to calm him down. Vokran didn't cooperate, however. Several of the scouts had to pin him down before he would stop screaming.  
  
He was completely pale. His breathing was fast and irregular, and his face was frozen in an expression of complete terror.  
  
"Vokran! Calm down! What happened?"  
  
Vokran was still in a state of complete panic. "Quick! We have to run! It'll kill us! Go!" He began screaming at the top of his lungs again.  
  
Kevlon rolled his eyes and slapped Vokran as hard as he could. "Calm down! What happened?"  
  
Vokran winced, then faced Kevlon. "Rodath and I were in the graveyard, trying to find out what had made a rustling noise. We both assumed that it was an Ahoul scout. But there was a spot of dirt that was moving! Rodath walked up and started inspecting it." He shut his eyes and winced.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"A thing jumped out of the ground and grabbed, actually bit, his head. It slipped underground again, taking his head underground with it. There was a snapping noise and he went limp. When his body collapsed, his head was gone." With that, Vokran began sobbing.  
  
Kevlon helped him up. "Sadlak. Lonal. Take him back to Avalon." The two scouts walked up and gently grabbed Vokran's arms, leading him back towards the fortress.  
  
*****  
  
They were about two hundred feet away when they stopped. Sadlak had noticed a strange disturbance in the dirt. He walked up to it, wondering what it was. Vokran began screaming again. "No! Don't! Run away!"  
  
Sadlak was complying when a long, slimy thing shot out of the ground. A large mouth clamped onto Sadlak's leg, pulling it underground. Sadlak winced and tried to pull himself up. But it was no use. Another voreworm shot out of the ground, grabbing his arm and pulling it under. He was now pinned on his back on the ground.  
  
At this point, Lonal and Vokran began running back to the group of scouts.  
  
Sadlak's only thought as he was laying on the ground was silence. He would NOT alert the Ahoul to his companions' presence. He died silently when a set of teeth stabbed through his throat.  
  
*****  
  
Lonal was a fast runner, but Vokran was driven by sheer terror. Vokran made it back to the group of scouts first. He turned around, waiting for Lonal to arrive.  
  
Kevlon ran up to Vokran. "What are you doing back here?"  
  
Vokran whimpered and pointed at Lonal. Kevlon looked up just in time to see Lonal trip over a long, slimy body and fall to the ground. He was too focused on escaping to scream.  
  
Kevlon began running, hoping to save Lonal. He stopped when he was fifty feet away and pulled out his bow. It was a short bow that was over an inch thick. It was crafted by an Elven Master. The thickness of the wood gave it more power than most long bows, but the size of the bow was perfect for scouting.  
  
He nocked an arrow and pulled the string back, then let the arrow fly. It struck a voreworm in the back. The thing gave a shriek and fell to the ground.  
  
The rest of the voreworms turned around to face the new threat. As another of them fell from an arrow, the rest dived underground.  
  
Kevlon suddenly realized that these creatures traveled underground. He put his bow away and ran back to the group of scouts. He knew he couldn't stand against these creatures alone. On top of that, Lonal was probably dead already.  
  
*****  
  
By this time, the rest of the scouts had gathered in front of the church. They had all heard the screams and were wondering what was happening.  
  
Kevlon reached the group and started talking. "There are some worm creatures that travel underground. They've killed three scouts already. We don't stand a chance alone, so we need to take them on together. Unsheathe your weapons!"  
  
Twelve swords were drawn, ready for action.  
  
Kevlon scanned the ground around him, looking for the telltale disturbance. Suddenly, a voreworm popped out of the ground under his foot. It tried to clamp onto his leg, but he was too fast.  
  
He jumped as high as he could, clearing his leg of the snapping jaws. As he was starting to fall back down, he swung his long sword down, slicing through the repulsive creature.  
  
Two more worms appeared in the group, trying to take the scouts down. They were dispatched instantly.  
  
As the scouts fought, Kevlon began to realize how hopeless the situation was. Every time a scout killed a voreworm, two more were ready and waiting to take him on. They were massively outnumbered, and they had already lost two more scouts.  
  
"Men, head for the old houses! Get up on the roofs!"  
  
All the scouts started running towards the ruined houses. Kevlon was the first to arrive. He quickly jumped and pulled himself up onto the roof of an old house. Edoc was right behind him. Kevlon pulled him up to safety.  
  
The rest of the scouts were too far, however. Kevlon pulled out his bow and started shooting down voreworms, but there were too many. One by one, the scouts fell to the hideous creatures.  
  
Edoc watched as the scouts were pulled down. Suddenly, Isaac tripped and fell. Edoc and Isaac were as close as brothers, and Edoc couldn't watch him die.  
  
"Edoc, no!" Kevlon yelled, but it was too late. Edoc was already on the ground, running towards Isaac. Kevlon gave him as much cover fire as he could.  
  
Edoc reached Isaac and found him dead. He screamed in rage and started swinging at everything in site. Kevlon continued to give him cover fire. "Edoc! Get back here!"  
  
But Edoc wouldn't listen. He was too focused on avenging his friend to think about saving his own life. He killed over fifty voreworms before tripping and accidentally falling on his own sword.  
  
Kevlon put away his bow as he realized that he was the only one left alive. He laid back on the roof of the building, too stunned to think.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning, Kevlon came to and found himself still on the roof.  
  
'I can't stay here. I'll starve. I guess I'll have to make a break for it.'  
  
He drew his sword, calmed his nerves, and jumped off the roof.  
  
He hit the ground running. As he sped past numerous burnt houses, voreworms started popping up out of the ground. He swung at any in his way and kept running, knowing that he would be dead if he stopped.  
  
Kevlon was halfway to Avalon when he was cut off. Fourteen voreworms appeared in front of him, cutting him off. As he came to a stop, several more appeared, surrounding him.  
  
'So this is it, eh?' He gripped his sword, ready to go down fighting.  
  
He never got the chance to swing. There was a whistling sound as five arrows flew past him, taking down five of the voreworms. As he turned to see where the arrows were coming from, another volley took down more of the creatures.  
  
Ten seconds later, all the worms were dead. Kevlon turned to the source of the arrows. An elf walked out of the trees, followed by four more.  
  
The eldest elf walked up to Kevlon. "What happened?"  
  
"My scouting party was massacred by these things. They're all dead. Dead." He broke down sobbing.  
  
The elves brought him back to their encampment and rearmed him. After that, he was sent back to Avalon to report what had happened.  
  
As he was walking back to the fortress, he didn't see the Ahoul scout. Nor did he see the bow that was drawn. All he felt was the arrow that pierced his throat. As he fell to the ground, he began to reflect on his life that was now at its end. His last thought was of the war. "Avalon, may you forever stand."  
  
*****  
  
A/N: Yeah, it was depressing. It's a horror fic. What did you expect? Anyway, I'd appreciate if you reviewed. I don't care if it's signed or not. If, however, you have read this work which took hours of my time and can't take thirty seconds of yours and post a review, then fine. Heck with you.  
  
Andrew Ames (Pyro1588)  
  
http://www.weyard.cjb.net/  
  
2:48 PM  
  
3/27/04  
  
89 paragraphs  
  
271 lines  
  
1992 words 


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